Emery Atwood
Emery Grace Lansing (née Atwood) is the main character and female protagonist of the Beauty of the Dark series. She is the best friend, love interest, and wife of Jesse Lansing. She is a former exotic dancer and waitress. She is a successful writer. Emery grew up in the All-American family: two loving parents and a younger brother whom she loved deeply. She was a smart and friendly child who had a hopeful and positive outlook on life and everyone she met. After witnessing a perfect love between her mother and father, Emery sought to have the same kind of love between herself and another person one day. When her parents died, however, Emery's portrait of love was tarnished with the realization that love didn't last forever as it hadn't with her parents. Nonetheless, she still desired a love like theirs even if it wasn't forever. Despite losing her parents, Emery remained strong and dedicated to school much to the surprise of her friends and teachers. Things began to look up for her after being accepted to her top choice university and with graduation on the horizon, she was at a good place in her life. The most life-changing event for Emery came on the eve of her senior prom when she was raped by a stranger in the back of a van. This event would have the most significant effect on her emotionally and mentally for years to come as everything she knew and hoped for shattered to pieces. After failing to resist her attacker due to freezing, Emery was racked with guilt and shame for allowing the assault to occur. As a result of these feelings, she lost all hope for any kind of love as she now saw herself as unlovable let alone undeserving of love. This caused her to refuse any and all chances at love for fear that she would face rejection once someone would learn of her rape and find her at fault. Once she learned that she was pregnant as a result of the rape, Emery began to realize that the town she lived in had caused her nothing but pain and that remaining there only reminded her of that pain. She then discreetly fled her home with a duffel of money and not an idea of where she was going. Emery is a member of the Atwood Family and Dove Family by birth and the Lansing Family by marriage. Early Life Emery Grace Atwood was born in Amherst, Virginia on May 1, 1993 to Harrison and Vanessa Atwood. She is the older sister of Drew. At the age of 2, her mother enrolled her in gymnastics. When she was six, a new family had moved in across the street from Emery's house. At school, Emery then met Jesse Lansing, and the two became quick friends. During the summer before ninth grade, Jesse developed feelings for popular queen bee Charlotte Wright, something that angered Emery greatly, seeing as Charlotte was well known for her non-emotional relationships and was fearful that she would hurt Jesse. Then, in the beginning of her freshman year of high school, her mother begged her to try out for the cheerleading squad, and Emery did so reluctantly. However, soon after making the team with her two best friends Lorena and Jasmine, her mother and father had tragically died in a car accident. Despite this, Emery decided to remain on the team in honor of her mother. Things began to look up for her when she had gotten accepted into the college of her dreams, Hollins University, where she planned to study Creative Writing. Hollins also was the alma mater of her mother. In the wake of her parents' deaths, her mother's sister Angie moved in with her and Drew while they finished school. This led to a closer relationship between Emery and Angie. 2011 On April 9, the night of her senior prom, Emery was snatched while walking home alone and then taken into the back of her captor's car where he raped her. While she had every intention of resisting her attacker, Emery froze up in fear of further harm much to her frustration and devastation. As shock took over, Emery imagined that she was still at prom in attempt to cope with the assault. After twenty minutes, her captor shoved her out of the van on onto the ground while he drove away. Once Emery was alone, she began to hyperventilate and made her way home. After arriving home, Emery immediately headed to her room, not wanting to explain to Angie why she was home early or why she was shaking. When Angie realized something bad happened judging from Emery's appearance, she went to touch Emery but Emery recoiled in fear and cowered against the wall. Angie then came to the conclusion that Emery must've been hurt and asked Emery if she had been raped. Still unable to speak, Emery slowly nodded before breaking down in tears. Angie rushed to comfort her, causing Emery to become hysterical as she let her pain out. In the days following the assault, Emery withdrew from her family and friends and refused to attend school as she sank into a state of depression. In addition to her devastation, she dealt with feelings of guilt and shame over her freezing response and felt that because of this, she allowed the rape to happen. When Emery began to throw up consistently, she went to the doctor where she learned that she was pregnant as a result of her rape. The doctor optioned an abortion, to which Emery recoiled at. Because she knew she was emotionally, mentally and financially unfit to be a mother, Emery opted for adoption. Still suffering the emotional and mental effects of rape, Emery became further overwhelmed to an extent she'd never known before. Unable to tolerate the amount of pain she was suffering, she turned to cutting and painkillers in attempt to relieve the pain. When she realized that both actions could harm her baby, however, she stopped them immediately and felt ashamed of her actions. It then dawned on Emery that the town she was living in had only caused her pain and suffering, and that remaining there only reminded her of said pain and suffering. She then came to the conclusion that she needed to leave town and begged Angie to let her move in with her paternal aunt who lived in upstate Virginia. Unfortunately, Angie denied this as the move was too complicated and costly. Emery, desperate to escape the town that was plagued by pain, then decided to run away from home. Emery then met with her neighbor Mrs. Seymour, who had loaned her $3,000 in cash to flee town with. Emery then took the money and left town, unsure of where she was headed. Soon after leaving town, Emery pawned her phone and purchased a new one as well as a burner phone. Using the burner phone, she sent a text to Angie telling her that she was "fine" and that she was not going "back". She also requested that Angie not call the police, then dumped the phone in a nearby trashcan. Despite Emery's request, Angie did end up calling the police. However, they were unable to find Emery because Angie told the police that she most likely would head up to her paternal aunt's house, which was a dead end. Ending up in the heart of Richmond, Virginia, Emery slept in her car until she turned 18 as she couldn't legally rent an apartment yet, let alone make any large movements without getting discovered and returned home. During this time, she lived off of the vending machines outside of a Walgreens. Once she realized that she needed real food to support her baby, she began to sneak into the local food shelter each night. One night, she met a woman named Michelle who, upon learning of Emery's pregnancy and her age, suspected that Emery was a runaway. Michelle then offered Emery a place to stay. Emery reluctantly accepted and went to stay with Michelle and her husband until her 18th birthday. During this time, Emery looked for an apartment to rent with the help of Michelle and her husband, and had more money now as she sold her car. Once she found a reasonable apartment, Emery moved out of Michelle and her husband's place while still remaining in contact with Michelle. Finally on her own, Emery struggled to find a well-paying job that would allow her to both survive off of and take care of her pregnancy at the same time. One day, she came across an add for a local gentlemen's club called The Rose Garden. Knowing how much money she could make from working there, Emery applied for a job as a dancer and was immediately accepted. Her boss Noel Morrison however, began to take a strange liking to her, which made Emery uncomfortable, but she put up with it due to the high-paying job. She found friends in her co-workers but was reluctant to reveal any personal details to them. The only time she did so was when she had to tell them that she was pregnant because she couldn't hide it anymore; however she lied and said it was the result of a one-night stand rather than rape. With her first paycheck, Emery purchased a diamond bracelet from Tiffany & Co. which she used to cover up her self-harm scars on her left wrist. About a week after being accepted for the job, Emery called her aunt, brother, Lorena and Jasmine to tell them that she was alive and safe and that she wasn't coming "back". Lorena and Jasmine then begged to see her, to which Emery declined. However, within a couple of days, the two of them tracked Emery down and showed up at her doorstep as she was leaving for work. She was shocked to see them, and they were shocked to see what her life had become and demanded to know why she left town and wouldn't leave until she told them. Emery finally confided in them about the reason behind her leaving town. Lorena and Jasmine then stayed with Emery through the summer until they had to leave for college. Despite the both of them attending college two and a half hours away, they made an effort to visit Emery every weekend much to her chagrin. As she progressed through her pregnancy, Emery became more guarded and detached in attempt to ignore the pain of knowing she couldn't keep her baby due to the mental, emotional and financial state she was in. While out to lunch one day, a heavily pregnant Emery asked Michelle if she and her husband were planning on having children. Michelle then somberly revealed that she was unable to have children. At this revelation, Emery proposed that Michelle and her husband adopt her baby. At first, Michelle was a bit hesitant at the idea as the offer was so sudden and unexpected, but after talking it over with her husband and making absolutely sure that Emery wanted to give her baby up for adoption, Michelle and her husband accepted. The week before Christmas, Noel threw a holiday party. During the evening, he was very attentive of Emery, claiming it to be because she was in the last month of her pregnancy. However, Emery knew he was trying to move in on her. At the party, Emery felt very ashamed and embarrassed about her situation, surely knowing that the people who stared at her for the majority of the evening asked about her marital status and would be judging her. Despite this, Lorena and Jasmine, whom she had invited to attend with her, attempted to cheer her up, succeeding eventually. On December 28, 2011 Emery went into labor at 2:00 am. Lorena and Jasmine, who were staying over their holiday break, drove her to the hospital, and while in the waiting room they called Emery's aunt and brother. Once Angie and Drew arrived, Emery reluctantly admitted them into her room. With the support of her aunt and brother, Emery gave birth to a boy at 9:25 pm. When she saw him for the first time, Emery burst into tears of both happiness and devastation. She then gave her son to Michelle and her husband. Giving her baby up for adoption pushed Emery over the edge; she shut down emotionally and sprung herself into her work in attempt to distract herself from the emotional pain despite Noel's insisting that she stay home and recover. She also began to show more of a rebellious streak. Emery had been emotionally worn down by all of the tragedy she'd faced to the point of wanting to avoid any more pain in her life. As a result, she rejected her resurfacing feelings regarding her rape as they were too painful for her to handle after everything. She soon realized that the only way to avoid pain is by not caring about anything anymore, in particular people as she believed that caring lead to pain. Noel began to ask her to work more shows when one of the dancers, Paige, began a string of frequent absences. 2015 Emery is living in a small house just on the outskirts of Richmond in a town known as Montrose Heights. She is doing well financially as a result of her position at the club, where she gathers a wealthy amount of tips almost nightly as a result of her promiscuity and provocative behavior toward the customers. She spends a fair portion of her earnings on her physical appearance, namely her clothes, cosmetics and accessories. She also pampers herself once every week by going to the local spa for a mani/Pedi. She goes to the local gym regularly in attempt to maintain her 'dancer physique'. She also goes clubbing with her coworkers every weekend. Every Saturday at three in the afternoon, her friend Michelle calls or emails her with updates on her now three and a half-year-old son, many of which she seldom reads or listens to. This is Emery's only reminder of her rape other than her C-Section scar, so she tries to avoid it at all costs. Michelle offers repeatedly to bring her son over, but Emery declines. She gets frequent and often unexpected visits from Lorena and Jasmine, who are living in their own apartment more toward the city as they are attending college at Virginia Commonwealth University. Emery is often upset by these visits as she knows they are checking up on her to make sure she hasn't run away again. Emery attempts to convince them, as well as herself, that she is "fine" after everything. However, this is anything but true. She experiences anxiety attacks as well as nightmares as a result of her rape which she tells no one of. However, these episodes are only in response to significant triggers that are a result of her rape. When she gets anxiety attacks, she belittles them and attempts to dismiss them as "fits". After such incidents, she dismisses her feelings of fear and resumes what she was doing as if she weren't affected at all. Emery is reluctantly on Trazodone for insomnia and Zoloft for PTSD. She takes her medication so quickly in attempt to forget why she is on it. In The Novels |-|The Beauty of the Dark= |-|Where There Is Light= Personality |-|Before Rape= |-|After Rape= |-|Throughout The Series= Physical Appearance Relationships Appearances Name First *'Emery' is a feminine name of German origin derived from the surname Emmerich, which in turn was taken from the German amal, meaning "bravery" and ric, meaning "rule, power". The meaning of Emery is "brave ruler; brave power". Middle *'Grace' is a feminine name of Latin origin that means "happiness". Last *'Lansing' is a surname... **'Atwood' is a surname... Trivia *Other options for her name included Emma, Emily, and Alyssa. **Her alias Emma Dove was one of the first options for her name. *She often referred to her hometown as "back" because she was no longer saw it as her home after all of the pain that she faced there. *Emery’s belief that she is “damaged goods” is a reflection of how society views victims of rape with the automatic stigmatization of them being tainted or dirty. *Her belief that she was responsible for being raped is a metaphor for how society often blames victims of rape. *Despite her goal of living life to the fullest, Emery finds genuine happiness and joy with Jesse as he shows her how to truly enjoy life again without having to drink or party. *Her fears include the fear of darkness, the fear of being alone, the fear of sex, the fear of being touched, the fear of duct tape, the fear of restraint, the fear of cigarette smell and the fear of whiskey scent. These fears are a result of her rape. *Her favorite stores are Bebe and Forever 21. *If she hadn't gotten pregnant, she would've dealt with her rape sooner, but due to the emotional severity of having a baby, let alone by rape, she was not focused on her rape but the pregnancy. *She owns a diamond tennis bracelet from Tiffany & Co which was used to cover up her self-harm scar. This bracelet was removed as seen in the epilogue. *Her favorite color is purple. *She owns a pair of heels from Louboutin, Jimmy Choo, Prada and Michael Kors. *She owns a navy blue trench coat from Burberry that she wears to and from work. *She carries her work uniform and necessities in a purple Louis Vuitton that was given to her by Lorena. Tropes *She is a reluctant Damsel In Distress. *She believes that she is Defiled Forever. *She suffered a A Fate Worse Than Death. *She has Rape As Backstory. *She was unknowingly part of a plan of Post Rape Taunt. *She is seen as a Sugar And Ice Girl. *She comes from a Dark And Troubled Past. *She is a Broken Bird. *She is in an Epiphanic Prison. *She is a Reluctant Fanservice Girl. *She is a Stripper With A Heart of Gold. *She is introduced with a "Break the Cutie" persona. *After her assault, she Stopped Caring about most things. *Her son is her Achille's Heel. *She believes that in order to move forward, Don't Look Back. *She is a victim of Revenge By Proxy. *She suffers a Bewildering Punishment. *She goes through the Five Stages Of Grief after losing her parents as well as after her assault. *Before her assault, she was known as the Girl Next Door. *She is Not With Him For The Money. *She is considered to be The Tragic Rose of the story. *She struggles with a Loss Of Identity. 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